Tangerine Olive Oil Cake

Before the kitchen closed, I needed to send it off with a bang. Tangerine Olive Oil Cake to the rescue! I made a double batch of Cafe Fernando's Clementine and Olive Oil Cake substituting tangerines for clementines.


Cast of characters: granulated sugar mixed with tangerine zest- this smelled AMAZING, eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, extra virgin olive oil (I used the Spanish one from Trader Joe's- it's got a great fruity flavor)


Plus tangerine juice! I had to use up the tangerines I bought- they had SO many seeds in each segment. They were inedible. I ended up using all 15 tangerines to get 2 cups of tangerine juice. Talk about a sticky situation!

A double recipe gave me a 9-inch round cake and 6 mini bundt cakes.

I sprinkled the round cake with powdered sugar- note the weird splotches. This is what happens when your sifter is wet- it drips! Oops.

I glazed the mini bundts with a tangerine/lemon drizzle. This was my favorite way to eat it and it kept the cake moist even two days later. Yum!

Peach Cobbler Bundt Cake

A peach for my peach.

I'm officially 13 weeks pregnant and the baby is the size of a peach! To celebrate this milestone and the last week of my first trimester, I concocted not one but two iterations of a peach cobbler bundt cake. Still don't have it quite right- the cake is nice but the filling is missing that essential cobbler gooey-ness.

Exhibit A:


Cobbler cake with peach pie filling in the middle. This was a great combination and ooey-gooey, but a logistical nightmare. Suffice it to say, there was peach filling everywhere when I removed this from the pan. This poor fool landed in the trash after serving up a nice Saturday breakfast. The ooze would not have kept well.

Exhibit B:


Structurally, this was a winner. Using diced, jarred peaches kept the cake from collapse, but this was minus any gooey quality at all. *tear* And the parts with the peach are a bit soggy. I'm still eating this one- it's light and tasty, just not quite cobbler-y enough.

I think the winning combination would be this cake batter with a pumped up peach jam swirled into it. More flavor and just the right amount of goo.

Wonder what size the baby is going to be next week....perhaps another fruit cobbler cake will make it's appearance! After all, I've got to keep my strength up- I'm growing a person.

Brown- butter banana cake with chocolate chips

I'm blogging on location today.


Exciting, no?


Location is...my backyard! It's particularly inviting this time of year, as the mosquitoes are still sleeping and the lilac bush is in full bloom.




Gilligan, my four year old labradoodle, is co-blogging with me today and by co-blogging, I mean bonking my leg with his ball for me to throw.

Chives

Raspberry canes

Japanese Bleeding Hearts

I took a few photos of our backyard bounty- Nick's already started our garden with compost from our own bin! Yay homemade dirt! So far we've got cauliflower, romaine lettuce, celery, and broccoli planted. I cannot wait to eat homegrown food all summer long!

If only we could grow bananas...

Check out this banana cake glamour shot complete with stunt banana! (Just kidding- it's a real banana.)

This bundt cake kicks butt or bundt or whatever. It totally rocks. My stepmother gave me the all chocolate edition of Fine Cooking and I've been baking my way through it. Since I've been trying my best to agave-ize & health-ify a lot of my baked goods, this one seemed particularly adaptable. Banana adds a lot of moisture that might have been lost by reducing the amount of butter. And bundt cakes take very kindly to agave subbing in for sugar.

This cake stayed moist and tender even a couple of days after making it. If you eat it hot, however, you get to enjoy the oozing chocolate and that is a very fine experience.


PS- I love these pictures, but I'm sure my neighbors thought I was a crazy lady as I posed cake and a banana on my front porch. The things I do for this blog...

Brown-buttter banana cake with chocolate chips
Adapted from Fine Cooking

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup applesauce
2/3 cup agave nectar
3 large eggs
1 cup finely mashed banana (~3 medium bananas)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon butter extract (optional)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dark chocolate chunks


Preheat oven to 350. Grease a bundt pan and set aside.

Over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, let it continue to cook and darken until it's a golden brown color. Watch this closely as it happens fast. Remove from heat.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the agave nectar, eggs, bananas, vanilla, & butter extract. Whisk to thoroughly combine. Once the butter has cooled, add it to the wet mixture and whisk to combine.

Add in the flours, salt, and baking soda. You could whisk them separately in a bowl, but I just dumped them in. Using a wooden spoon, stir gently until just mixed. Add in the chocolate chunks and stir to distribute.

Spread batter into bundt pan and bake for 40 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Lemon Raspberry Swirl Pound Cake

Do you ever get those cravings you just can't shake? As if your body is desperately crying out for a hot fudge sundae from Dairy Freeze...or you just can't continue on without brie on a baguette. Anyone? Bueller? Ok, maybe it's just me.


I've been craving pound cake. Real, honest pound cake, filled with eggs and butter. The tender crumb melting in my mouth, the glistening glaze cracking as you cut yet another slice. I realize I have issues, but who doesn't like pound cake? The husband said he didn't like pound cake, but somehow managed to eat 2 slices at home and at least 1 at work. He has issues, too.


Check out those luscious swirls encased in lemon-scented cake...yum.



You may have noticed that my photography has improved. Confession- these pictures are lovingly brought to you by the husband. He actually knows how to use his fancy camera and had quite the photo-shoot with this cake. At one point, this cake was balanced upon two stockpots and at another it was on top of a table on top of the living room chair. Oh, the places cakes will go!


Now that my craving is satiated, it's time for a new one.

What are you craving?



Lemon Raspberry Swirl Pound Cake
This recipe is thoroughly adapted from the queen of pound cake, Ms. Paula Deen

For the pound cake:
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature (leave out ~30 minutes)
2 tsp lemon zest (~1/2 a lemon)
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla

For the raspberry filling:
1 cup frozen raspberries
1/4 cup raspberry jam
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup powdered sugar

For the glaze:

1/3 cup powdered sugar
~1 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325. Grease a bundt pan generously.

For the raspberry filling:
Do this before making the cake so it has a chance to cool. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Break up any large raspberry chunks. Once the mixture has come to a bubble, remove from heat and let cool.


For the cake:

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in separate bowl.

In your mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, until well-incorporated. Then add the buttermilk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Blend until well-mixed.

Add the dry ingredients, one third at a time, until just mixed. Don't overmix- if you do, your batter will be tough.

Assembly:

Into the bottom of your bundt pan, add 1/4 of the batter. Smooth it out so that it evenly covers the bottom. Spoon in 1/2 of the cooled raspberry filling. Attempt to keep in it the middle, but it's hardly a capital offense if it spills toward the sides.

Top the filling with 1/2 the remaining cake batter. Smooth so that the raspberry filling is completely covered.

Spoon the rest of the filling over the batter. Top with remaining batter. Smooth out batter as best as you can so that the raspberry filling is completely covered. You should have two separate raspberry layers running through your gorgeous cake!

Bake in oven for 1 hour. Check and bake for an additional 15 minutes if batter is still wet. Check is multiple places to be sure.

Cool cake in pan for 10-15 minutes and then invert on a cooling rack. Cool cake completely before glazing.

For glaze:

Whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cake.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

I've been craving coffee cake for quite sometime. During the Christmas season, the husband introduced me to something incredible: My Grandma's Coffee Cake There is something special about this cake- it's tender and sweet. Even better, it's made by a small Boston-based company founded in 1990.

Once I tasted that coffee cake, I was convinced I could make something just as tasty. Plus, I'd never made coffee cake before. Time for something new!

Cast of characters: butter, white sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, white flour, whole wheat flour, eggs, sour cream, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla



Cream the butter and 1 cup of white sugar in your Kitchen Aid (you could also use a hand mixer) until light and fluffy. Then add the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until well-combined.



While you are waiting for the butter and sugar to reach the fluffy stage, chop up some walnuts. You want the pieces to be pretty fine.

In a skillet, toast the nuts. This is optional, but I really think toasted nuts are nuttier than raw nuts. Agree? To toast, keep the heat just under medium heat, stirring frequently. Once you can smell them, they're done. Remove quickly- burned nuts are on par with burning rubber and burned hair on the scale of things you don't want to smell or eat.

I'm not into sifting- it's just not how I roll. Instead, I combine all my dry ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk vigorously.


Add dry ingredients to the egg/butter/sour cream mixture. Mix until just combined- do not overmix. Overmixing is why cakes become rubbery and cookies are tough. Just.say.no.
*Side note- see my cute spatula handle. It's engraved with our names- a wedding gift from the husband's aunt.

The topping/filling consists of white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and the toasted walnuts. Mix together in a small bowl. Do your best not to just spoon it directly into your mouth.

Grease a bundt pan and spread half of the batter in the bottom. Sprinkle half of the filling over the batter, making sure to cover it evenly. Top with the rest of the batter. This is a little tricky, since the batter wants to stick to the filling. This trickiness is why there are no pictures of this step- it was a bit hands-on, smoothing out the batter. Top the batter with the rest of the filling.

Put cake in an 325 degree oven and bake for 50 minutes. When there are 10 minutes left, remove cake and drizzle the bottom with 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Place back into oven to finish baking.

This was what it looks like when it's done. See the big brown splotch at the bottom? That's the filling- yum!


Drizzle the cake with a buttermilk glaze for shine and some extra flavor.


Cross-section of deliciousness. See the thick layer of filling and the crunchy crust on the bottom. Fantastic! We both had a big slice last night and I sent the rest to work with the husband because I would eat the rest. By myself. Alone. In the dark. *sigh*

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

For the cake:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temp
1 cup sour cream, room temp (leave out for 30 minutes)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup AP flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

For the topping/filling:

1/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped nuts, toasted

For the glaze:

1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325. In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, sour cream, and vanilla. Mix well.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Whisk to combine. Add to wet mixture and mix gently until just combined.

In a greased bundt pan, spread half the batter on the batter. Sprinkle evenly with half of the filling. Spread the rest of the batter over the filling. Sprinkle with the rest of the topping.

Bake for 40 minutes. Remove and drizzle bottom with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Bake an additional 10 minutes. Remove and let cool.

Drizzle with prepared glaze. Eat.